Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Selflessness

On the weekend at church my pastor said something that really stood out. The message was on selfishness vs selflessness and how it relates to relationships. He said (and it's something Rick Warren has said too) that people are always asking the question: If there's a God then why is there evil in the world? and i guess it's something we all question hey. Why do bad things happen if God is truly supreme? His answer though was brilliant... he said: That's not the question people should be asking, the real question is: Why is there good in the world?

Sometimes you don't realise how selfish you are, i really try to be selfless, but i know that im nowhere near where i'm needed to be and that is incredible because there are alot of people out there who are equally or are far more selfish than i am, a whole world infact, billions of people doing selfish acts, making selfish choices... so going back to my first paragraph, "why is there good in the world?"

The only reason that there is any good in the world at all is because God is in control. Think about it, where on earth would any good come from in a world full of people as selfish as me. I guess it's easy to see how God is supreme when you look at it this way.

I love everything about the suburb i live in, it's called Varsity Lakes and it is really cool, it has been designed around a lake and has heaps of great parkland... but i know that it has all been designed because some guy in an office has worked out that if the construction of the suburb allows for a certain amount of parkland then the value of the surrounding land will be higher, it is a formula and that often frustrates me. It seems nothing in this world is done out of love, the people that designed Varsity Lakes didnt make it amazing because they thought i would be a nice gift to the GC, they did it to make money.

It's the same with alot of music, at some point most popular music stops being art and becomes a product. The point i'm trying to make is that its rare for people to do good things out of love, things in this world are mostly driven by selfish desire.

Okay i think i've made my point, i'm going to stop being negative now.I honestly believe that God is the source of all good. What makes a selfish person be selfless? It's God. This holy spirit we've been injected with makes people do the craziest things and that creates a ripple effect.

A friend once said to me that everytime he walks through a checkout line at the supermarket he makes sure to try and cheer up the checkout chick because if he can get her smiling, she will then beam a huge smile back at all the customers she gets after him, improving their days. It is such a small example but i love it.

It's funny how one devine revelation, one good thought planted by God can produce so much good...